Alyssa & Bailey

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Alyssa had to come the farthest the fastest this past summer.  Her pony, Bailey had been on a year-long lay up and was finally able to start work early in the year.  But starting back to work meant slow going if Bailey was to recover properly.  So for the first few months, Alyssa and Bailey worked only at the walk and trot.  Eventually, they were able to start cantering then they started jumping little X jumps. 

Alyssa had jumped Bailey before, shortly after she purchased him, but he showed signs of soreness early on.  He was never sound enough days in a row for her to ever do any training with him.  So, starting back jumping was like starting from scratch.  Within a matter of months, Alyssa and Bailey went from jumping little X's to jumping 2'6".  Soon, the pair were placing in the top three in their classes and coming home with the occasional Reserve Champion and Champion. 

With Alyssa's patience concerning Bailey's recovery, the unflagging support of her mother and Alyssa's strong determination, she got herself farther in three or four months than she'd gotten in the three years prior.  Alyssa started the 2006 year riding with my good friend, Terri Young of Clairvaux in Leesburg, VA.  She also worked for Terri through the summer up until she went college and still helps out occasionally on breaks. 

Alyssa is a freshman at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and will continue to ride while she is at school.

Sarah & Romeo

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Convinced that Romeo's mother had to have been standing on all fours when he was born, thus dropping him on his head, Sarah has decided that Romeo will spend his days as a pasture mate to a new horse for her when the right time comes.  And for that, Romeo is a very lucky pony.

With such determination, I am confident that Sarah will go on to succeed in whatever she puts her mind to, as long as she puts the same effort into it as she put into training Romeo.

Allie & Merlin

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Allie was such a quick study and tried so hard every time she was presented with a new challenge.  She picked up braiding so quickly which made my life so much easier, eliminating those 11:00 p.m. nights before the show!

Allie had a great way of laughing off some of the worst moments in our horse showing weekends.  Like the weekend Merlin and Romeo tore all over Sandstone, shipping boots, sheets, leadlines just a flying!  I was quietly stewing, poor Sara was in tears and Allie just marched on along with me in the field, half giggling, half in disbelief of what we were seeing.  Thankfully, we were the first ones there so no one else was around.  We did catch the ponies and the show ended up being a great one with both girls taking home the top ribbons for the day.

Mary & PT

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During her time with Troy, she was able to semi-lease a horse, Westward (PT) and had a great time showing him winning some ribbons she was very proud of.  Hoping to find a situation closer to home for Mary, I introduced her to Rachel Howell who has her own barn which is only minutes from Mary's home.  Mary is now able to ride Rachel's horses and works hard to earn her keep around the barn.

Kerry & Cinders

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In 2004, Kerry and her mare, Incandescent (Cinders) won multiple tri-colors and series end champions, earning them Children's Equitation Champion & Children's Hunter Champion in the VHSA Associate Program for the year.  Kerry qualified for the VHSA Medal Finals (regular program) on Cinders, finishing out 12th overall.  They also participated in the Summerplace Farm Invitational, finishing 5th in Children's Hunter.

During the summer of 2004, I introduced Kerry to Troy Hendricks of The Barracks in Charlottesville, VA in hopes of cultivating a relationship that would be conducive to Kerry's progression into the rated shows.  At the end of the show season and after the Associate Finals, Kerry donated Cinders to Randolph Macon Woman's College and is now leasing Face Value (Kip) from The Barracks.  She started the 2005 show season off right by earning a Reserve Champion at one of her first shows with Kip and continues to make progress in building a partnership with him.

Samantha & Fluffy

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Sam was always most generous with her time and her horse.  When she wasn't showing, she was helping out the other girls and if one of them didn't have a ride, she loaned them her mare.  Both Codi and Mary enjoyed rides on Fluffy.  Sam loaned Fluffy to Mary for her to ride during lessons with me and she loaned her to Codi for Finals. 

With Fluffy retired as a broodmare, Sam now owns Mr. Knightly (Jake) and keeps him at The Barracks in Charlottesville, VA.  Sam shows Jake occasionally and enjoys chasing and winning the satins as she always has. 

Piper & Hoot

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Piper and I started working together in August of 2003 and when we began, she was sitting nineteenth in Pony Equitation.  She finished the year Third in Pony Equitation, using both Osmosis Jones (Freckie) and Foxmor Inchaoots (Hoot) as her mounts.  Hoot was nowhere on the charts when he started and they finished out 2003 with Reserve Champion Green Pony.  When Piper first started riding Freckie, he was barely rideable and still remained a little on the spooky side by the time I came along.  But her persistence and love for Freckie paid off.  She stuck with him, earning them 2003 Reserve Champion Small/Medium Pony Hunter. 

Her awards for 2003 didn't end there.  She also rode Farnley Double Eagle (Eagle) to Champion in Pony Pleasure.  Lastly, Piper was the very first recipient of the Barbara Meegan Young Rider Award, an award which I nominated her for and was thrilled that she earned.  Piper is all grown up now and is probably taller than me.  She continues to ride at her mother's Sunny's Corner Farm and continues to take her share of trips to the winner's circle.

Terri Young & Buster

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Although I didn't get papers with Buster, I was able to read his tattoo and get a lot of information on him such as his registered name (Jetcin)  place of birth (Ocala, FL), breeding, former owners, racing records and his age.  I bought him thinking he was four but learned from the papers, he was still three, even in Thoroughbred years.  I also learned that in three short years, Buster had been owned by five different trainers.  I was his sixth owner.  Out of compassion for his well-being, I decided to keep him for awhile. After I got some weight on Buster, he turned in to a completely different horse.  He had tons of energy and was completely unrideable for the novices I'd planned to teach on him. 

What Buster did show me was that he was incredibly brave, curious but not spooky, careful and wonderfully athletic.  I soon learned that he would be happiest as a jumper or as an eventer.  After owning Buster for three years, I decided to sell him.  Enter Terri Young (that's her in the picture to the left).  I contacted her to have her help me sell him to a home better suited for his needs.  After Terri watched me jump Buster (who was still very green) around a 3'6" - 4' course (he'd never jumped over 3'), she decided to buy him for herself. 

Buster has been competing with Terri under the name "Dark & Stormy" for the past few years in the jumpers and the occasional combined training event.  She has also been riding Buster in lessons with Olympian Joe Fargis.  Terri has laid a wonderful foundation for Buster where he is sure to excel in his jumping career. 

Codi & Lincoln

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Nothing thrills me more than to see a student of mine continue on to college, and riding on their Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) team, just as I did.  Codi will soon graduate from Randolph Macon Woman's College where she has been training with JT Tallon.  She made the team as a freshman and has performed well in both riding and academics, making the Dean's list several semesters in a row and earning several riding titles, such as High Point Rider at the 2005 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Equestrian Championship.  Codi also competes in the Southwest Virginia Hunter Jumper Association (SWVHJA) shows, VHSA and USEF shows.

Leah & Roxy

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It's hard to believe that I took Leah to her first dance, taught her to drive, got her her first job (in my office!), took her to orientation for college and now she's about to graduate from college.  The good times Leah and I had are countless.  Together, we went to a lot of horse shows, showed a lot of horses, won a lot of ribbons, and had times I could easily repeat again without any regrets.

Leah and I took a $600 pony and brought him up through the ranks in the locals, all the way to the top three in the rateds.  At the time, it didn't seem like that much of a feat, but looking back now, we covered a lot of ground and I'm proud of what we accomplished together.

Leah was a natural, through and through and always gave the softest ride.  I often had people contact me and ask for Leah to ride their horse or pony.  Her beautiful riding style caught the eye of people that would eventually become clients.

Highly organized and a perfectionist, Leah had excellent braiding, clipping and grooming skills and she often helped me get new clients 'on board' with the Anyplace Farm program.  She was 13 when I met her and because her parents weren't able to attend shows on weekends, she got herself ready for shows, was never late, always reliable and rarely forgot a thing (more on that later ;)).  She was my right arm and I was so sad when she left for school.

Leah is now a graduate of Virginia Tech and is applying to various vet schools.  She spent some time showing dogs but has circled back to her roots in the last year, riding at a barn in Blacksburg.  Every once in a blue moon, I'm lucky enough to get to hang out with Leah when she makes the rare visit home.